The invention relates generally to systems and methods for attributing activity of a user viewing content such as online advertising, and more specifically to a method and system for measuring the impact of online advertising on offline sales while protecting the privacy of the consumer.
It is useful for vendors who sell items through the Internet to be able to compile sophisticated marketing data that gauges the return on investment (also referred to herein as “ROI”) of a particular online advertising campaign based on actual offline purchases by consumers who have viewed the advertising. By learning which advertising methods are most successful, vendors can better tailor their advertising campaigns to achieve the greatest return on investment. Prior methods for determining the ROI of an online advertising campaign require sharing a consumer's personally identifiable information among many parties.
While consumers may share personal identification with web sites when purchasing items or services, consumers are hesitant to share personal identification information when not required. Also, due to the many laws governing the protection of personal identification information and additional security required, vendors do not wish to capture and store such information when not required.
What is desired then is a system for measuring the impact of online advertising on offline sales that maintains the privacy of consumer's personal identification information.